11 sign language interpreters get 1st ‘Golden Hand Awards’

If not for sign language interpreters, who are few and far between, people with hearing impairment would not have been able to have a voice.

"Sign language uses hands (but) it touches the heart," was how 43-year-old May Gasataya-Andrada of Park Avenue, Pasay City described her vocation as an interpreter.

"We bridge the world of silence and the world of sound. We are able to help the deaf people express themselves and to fight for their rights," she told The STAR.

Andrada cannot explain the happiness and satisfaction she feels every time she uses sign language to give voice to a hearing-impaired person.

"It is very heartwarming to see the deaf being understood because of us. We give them voice but they give us their heart," she said.

Andrada explained that the deaf are not necessarily mute. But because of their hearing impairment, they are not able to learn how to talk.

Andrada is one of the 11 interpreters given the "First Golden Hands Award" by the non-government organization Philippine Association of Interpreters for Deaf Empowerment (PAIDE) Saturday night at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan.

Andrada has been a sign language interpreter for over 15 years. She currently serves as head of the Student Services Administration and college accreditation program registrar of the College Foundation Inc.

Other awardees are Teresita Diaz-Almayda, Antonia Benlayo-Blanca, Ma. Teresa Balido Buenaventura, Joy Lanon Cristal, Dolores Vince Cruz-dela Cruz, Beatriz Osorio-Go, Sonia Bermas-Lodado, Carmen Villilon-Rieza, Rebecca Martinez-Santos and PAIDE chief executive officer Alfredo Celada Jr, a surprise awardee.

According to Celada, PAIDE decided to give recognition to interpreters "who have given the prime of their life to the services of the deaf."

"Without them, nobody would give voice to the deaf. They relay the messages of these people to the hearing world," he said.

Celada added that to become an interpreter, "one must have a keen interest in sign language, having in mind the goal to serve the deaf with much patience, dedication, commitment and open-mindedness."

Celada has interpreted for various prominent people, including the late Pope John Paul II when the World Youth day celebration was held in the Philippines in January 1995.

As for Almayda, it was a fifth-grade female student at the Bicol School of Good Samaritan for the Deaf in Camarines Sur who brought her into the world of the deaf.

"She became a challenge to me. She motivated me to study sign language and if not for her, I wouldn’t be able to discover this tough but noble profession," she said.

Almayda recalled that sometime in 1984, she met the student when she substituted for another teacher. As a school nutritionist then, it was her duty to prepare a meal plan for the school.

"She tried to communicate with me. But because my knowledge of sign language was very limited then, I could not understand her. I was just smiling at her," she said.

The girl signalled to her classmates and left. Almayda learned that the student said she was "stupid."

Hurt and challenged, Almayda enrolled in the free training being offered by the Philippine Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf and became a registered interpreter in 1987.

She now teaches at the Legaspi City Division Special Education Center in Albay and acts as legal, religious and medical interpreter.

Almayda’s most unforgettable experience as a legal interpreter was when she interpreted for a 15-year-old girl who was raped by her stepfather in Bicol.

"The girl was unschooled. She didn’t know how to (use) sign language so I really (had) a difficult time interpreting for her," she said.

Instead, the girl was made to draw the ordeal she went through at the hands of her stepfather during court hearings. It came to a point when the victim had to reenact the rape, with Almayda acting as her attacker.

"So we lay down on the floor and reenacted the rape. I was wearing white pants then so when I got home, I was so dirty... But it was all worth it. The girl was given justice and I was very happy for her," she said.

Almayda said that being an interpreter is not easy and comes with its share of responsibility.

"We are not allowed to counsel or advise and we cannot interject our personal opinion. We are there only to make the deaf people heard," she said.